Not falling into hysteria is essential to endure the phase of confinement against the Coronavirus, a stage of uncertainty where everything is magnificent. Any headache, any moment of cough, or any slight muscle pain sets off alarms from oneself and from family or friends. But calm down.
Remember that processes like flu or colds, caused by viruses that infect the airways, they have no cure. Once these diseases are contracted, the virus is fought until it is defeated, but today there is no method to prevent it from accessing human beings. In any case, it is also worth remembering that these should never be treated with antibiotics, because these only act against bacteria and here we talk about viruses. These are the symptoms and the differences between Coronavirus, the flu, and a cold.
Fever
It is not the only tool to differentiate them, but it is one of the most notable, mainly because it will allow us discard the cold of the equation. Both influenza and Coronavirus cause an increase in temperature of the body beyond what is called a fever, that is, they generate a high fever. It is true that there is a minimum percentage of colds that can cause fever, but it is so tiny that, if we have more than 38 degrees of body temperature, we will focus on the flu and COVID-19.
According to a study by New England Journal of Medicine carried out to 1,099 patients with Coronavirus in China, 89% of them recognized during the process that they had had a fever. That is, for it to be Coronavirus we must have a fever. There is the possibility of having a fever and that it is not COVID-19, but the statistics tell us that if it exceeds 38 degrees, we should act as if we had it, because it is 89% probable that it is so.
Cough
Once the question of whether or not we have a fever becomes clear, let’s analyze the second key factor: cough. Both a cold and the flu or the Coronavirus cause a cough, but they are different. A cold can give what is called productive cough, that is, with phlegm. Cough the flu or Coronavirus are dry coughs, without sputum.
Also, if you feel a sore throat, sneezing, itchy nose and, above all, frequent runny nose, it’s an almost unequivocal symptom that you have a cold, since the presence of snot is very rare in flu or Coronavirus.
Muscle pain
The level of muscle discomfort It will also help us clarify what viruses we have. The discomfort is usually concentrated in the arms, legs, neck and back, being mainly flu characteristics or COVID-19. The cold can also generate muscle stiffness, but always in a smaller, almost imperceptible range.
Feeling short of breath and fatigue
They are mainly symptoms of Coronavirus. As has been happening throughout the article, we will reiterate the phrase “it can have these symptoms and it is not”, because each body is a world and a subject can express a disease with more symptoms or less than another, but the studies and science in their general analyzes indicate that are frequent symptoms when you have Coronavirus.
The feeling of not being able to breathe well –more similar to pneumonia than to a brat problem– and the systematic tiredness, of being accompanied by fever, would lead us to the path of COVID-19. For this reason it should not be serious or alarming, but we would begin to treat it.
conclusion
There is two very clear differences between Coronavirus-flu and a cold. The first is that Both Coronavirus and influenza systematically affect, that is, to the whole body, while the cold is concentrated in specific areas and punctual, generally in the nose and, at most, in the mouth. The second is that the cold has a gradual, progressive progression, while both the Coronavirus and the flu can appear spontaneously, without showing any previous discomfort.
The most complicated will be differentiate the flu from COVID-19They are both respiratory viruses with similar pathologies. But the most effective way to do it is focus on fever, cough and shortness of breath, since they are the three most common symptoms in Coronavirus patients. If you do, take precautions. The most recommended common medicine is paracetamolFollow the instructions and take it sparingly. If there is no improvement, call the medical help service of your Autonomous Community. Only go to the hospital if the discomfort is high or very high, in order not to congest the Healthcare with minor or light cases.
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